Month: November 2012

The future of South Africa starts with people like those of the location (township) Die Kop in Stanford. The community (privately) supported pre-primary school is one of the best in South Africa. And Helen Zille (prime minister of the Western Cape) is seemingly not aware of it and neither is South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma …. If every school in South Africa has the same (or similar) drive behind it … well guess that than the education standard would be more or less the highest in the world.

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Stiff neck? muscle pain? or whatever ‘body-movement problem’ there is holistic masseuse Beatrice Pook in our village. And she provided us with the best massage ever. Honestly! For Beatrice it’s not only a ‘muscle distraction’ in a leg or whatever may bother her individual customers. Her approach goes beyond symptoms and that is where the holistic part of her work comes in. The human body is one working organism, or eco-system if you like. All parts work together and if one part is dysfunctional it may effect others. It can also be that a discomfort in your back is caused by wrong ergonomics in the widest and sometimes also most narrow meaning of the word. So Beatrice lets you talk and feels and after that her hands start with the healing process and that feels good….. And she will inform you how to avoid or lessen muscle distractions. But also for pure relaxation her hands are a joy to feel; rejuvenating body, mind and soul…..

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A promise is a promise! When we left Robertson last year we promised one of our than staff that if he would marry someday we would take care of his honeymoon. Xolile is a special guy and the first employee who gave us a written notice every time when he needed a day off and than also mentioning when he planned to work in his lost time. Xolile became an orphan at a young age and had to take care for his younger brother and sister and we admire him for the way he battled himself through bureaucratic ‘warzones’. It also meant that he had to queue (sometimes even for 2 days!!!) every now and than at governmental institutions for school- and other grants; dealing with lazy teachers and so on. Life in a location (‘township’) is not that easy. Thanks to him and to Joey (wire-artist) we also got some experience in ‘township life’ (most privileged South Africans have never been through such a ‘struggle’ but it would be very healthy for them) but more important is that we got to know the people and their daily life. Last Saturday Xolile married the love of his life and we attended his wedding amongst 200 (non-white) guests; many we knew from our ‘survival’ experiences. We thank all these wonderful people for their genuine hospitality during our 11 years in Robertson. After the wedding we took the couple to our new home in Stanford and showed them around. For the first time in their life they saw whales, the sea and experienced beach and terrace life ….. They deserved it!!! Xolile worked himself up to head gardener on our farm (he’s now engaged in the wine-industry nearby his home); hence the flower and cactus decoration in the picture.

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We all know that Capetonians are slow and laid back but to such an extend …..???….. What everybody in South Africa up to in J’burg knew for years has now seeped through into Cape Town and yes; Capetonians now also voted for Stanford as the Best Village Destination in South Africa. May we congratulate Cape Town with this enormous achievement? Thanks.

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The “tourism industry” in the Robertson Wine Valley knows very well where to send their guests to for quality time. Only one has the guts to admit so it seems but than this guesthouse is one of the relatively few exceptions that offer guests great cosmopolitan hospitality with an extra dimension……..